Today we leave Amsterdam and travel to Paris. We bought our tickets yesterday for the 11:16 high speed train so didn't have a lot to do when we got to the airport. We left our hotel just after 9 and arrived at Station Central by 9:30 so we had some time to kill. Bought a lunch to take on the train and just people watched until it was time to go to our Platform. The train to Brussels was late arriving so the platform was full of people for both trains. We met couple from New York and had a nice chat with them while we waited for our train to arrive.
They have a huge parking lot at the train station.
There are thousands of bikes left there. We saw the parking staff removing a whole row of bikes for exceeding the parking time . With the number of bikes in Amsterdam
I would hate to have to go and find my bike at the lock up.
The train left on time and it's fast and smooth. A mother and 11 year old daughter sat across from us were on their way to a funeral. As we got talking to them the mother had lived 2 years in New York and the daughter had just started an English immersion school. The mother was from Paris so she gave us a lot of help and tips on getting to and around Paris. When we arrived we decided to take the Metro to our hotel. The best route was a bit round about but it got us close to our hotel. The temperature in the underground had to be 35+. We were both sweating buckets and glad to get out onto the street. The metro system is old and there are a lot of stairs to climb with our suitcases everytime you catch a train. We were on 3 different lines which meant changing trains twice after getting on the first one. Arrived at our hotel, checked in, cooled off and then set off to see what we could on our first night. We went to try and get a 2 day museum pass at the Army museum but they wouldn't sell us a pass that starts the next day. So we walked to a street our fellow passenger had recommemded to go for dinner. It was a nice area and we found a resturant where our waiters did not speak any English so it was a challenge to get our orders. As a matter of fact, Linda got something different than what she ordered. It was good though and the price was the same. We were within walking distance of the Eiffle tower to we went to see if it was a good time to go up. Not. Lines ups were far too long. Instead we went to the Champs de Mars and waited for it to get dark. We had to wait 1/2 hour or so, but it was worth it.
My turn, the laundry is done for the evening. I forgot to ask for extra towels to roll the clothes in. They brought us two and I was able to get things fairly damp, as opposed to soaking wet. I need to wash our pants from the past few days but will wait til morning and I have more drying space. It is always a challenge.
Roy has told all about our day but omitting telling what a great job he did of getting us here. He figured out the subway and our walk from the subway to the hotel. The subway is old and the locals are not one bit worried about 2 aging tourists. We did great!
Dinner at the little sidewalk cafe was lovely (even though my salmon became quiche. I wasn't about to correct the waiter. What is it about the French and their arrogance!) and so was the Eiffel tower. The line ups looked to be about 2 hours each! Good thing we went to the top 39 years ago. It is quite a light show after dark. Roy the Navigator got us back to our hotel after dark.
I was a bit disappointed by the train ride today - I thought we would see windmills (of the old variety) but we only saw one. It felt like home or the Canadian prairies for most of the way. They are busy harvesting and grow lots of corn.
I should make notes of the things I want to put in the blog during the day because I am brain dead when I sit in front of the computer.
Oh, the elevator in this hotel holds one person and a suitcase or two people. You get in, close the outside door and then the inside door closes, push in your floor number and up you go. The inside doors open, you push open the outside door and the lights come on in the hallway. They stay on just long enough for you to get your door open.
The Amsterdam hotel had a tub that was so narrow that when I stood with my feet lengthwise in the tub, heels at the drain, the tub was filled from side to side. I don't know how anyone would sit down!
All for tonight. God bless everyone
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